Once Upon A Time In Side 5
by KaijuDirectorOO7
Summary: On Side 5, in a tiny town, two rivals will wage one last duel, to settle a debt of a challenge. One-shot, starring Dessler and Char Aznable, based off Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars.


**DISCLAIMER:** I, the writer, DO NOT own_ Space Battleship Yamato_ nor _Mobile Suit Gundam_, or their corresponding characters. _Space Battleship Yamato_ was the creation of Lejii Matsumoto and Yoshinobu Nishizaki; Mobile Suit Gundam was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise Entertainment.

Neither do I own_ Yojimbo_ or _Fistful of Dollars._ The credit belongs to Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone, respectively.

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**TEXAS COLONY, SIDE 5, DATE U.C 007X**

The dusty wind blew hard on Zeon captain's masked face. Puffs of dust began to blow all over the small town, and the parts of his face uncovered by a pair of metallic shades and a silver helmet that one could compare to a samurai's_ kabuto_ helmet, only being much more peaked, were affected by it. A grungy, Cockney-accented Zeon corporal, visibly annoyed said, "Damn that blue-skinned bludger! He's being too goddamn late, he is!" He threw down a white cigarette in his mouth and got a new one. He'd smoked one for each hour the captain's enemy was late, and it was his third. For three hours, since nine in the morning, they'd been waiting. Nothing had changed. Eight other Zeon soilders were with them, busy trying to cool off at the well the high morning sun.

Meanwhile, in a small inn a few meters ahead of the well, two men, glued to their chairs, were quite less bored than the soilders. One of them, a man of about twenty, having wavy dark-brown hair and wearing a white shirt with a stylized red arrow on the collar. The other, a man of the same age, with burgundy hair, was wearing a light yellow shirt and light-blue pants under a dark-green poncho. "Your friend's late, Kodai. It's been three hours.", the second man said. Kodai gave him a stotic reply. "He will come. This is how he plays the game, Amuro."

Two women, one blonde, the other a brown-haired brundette. The blonde placed a tray of bread, empty glasses, and a full water pitcher on a table before Kodai and Amuro. The second girl planted herself on the inn's porch ahead of the chairs and took out a harmonica, toying around with it. Amuro turned t the blonde and said, "Thank you, Yuki. Say... d'you think that he will come?" Yuki gave a slight smile and said, "Of course he will. He's got too much pride to turn this one down." The would-be harmonica player then said, "Well, Yuki if he's got pride like you say, then why isn't he here?" Kodai gave out an impatient chuckle and told her, "Trust me, Fraw. He will come." Fraw belatedly said, "I hope you're right, Kodai.", then began to play the harmonica. The tune she played was Ennio Morricone's '_Man With A Harmonica_.'

Nearby, two undertakers were standing on one of their wares, a coffin, the looks of tiredness on their faces. One had a bullet head, and had the look of a young helmsman. The other, a man with much more youthful looks and had two strands of his hair stick out as bangs. The first undertaker had a bottle of sake in his hand and said, "Your Zeon friends over there seem impatient, Kobayashi-san." Hayato Kobayashi gave him a snort and said to his coworker, "That's because your friend is late, Shima-san." he reached for another bottle and drank from it. "He may not ever come." Shima just drank more. "Maybe... maybe not. Or maybe he will." The dust blew stronger and the heat became unbearable.

Back at the well, the Cockney corporal had checked his watch, when the bell struck twelve. He leaned over to the captain and said, "Captain, your blue-skinned friend is not coming. It's been three damn hours and not a single peep from him. It would best for us to leave now. There ain't no point in waiting for a duel that will never come." The captain, scratching the few blonde locks that reached out of his helmet, sighed and said, "You're right, corporal... if he won't come, then there isn't any point of us being here." He turned to his men and said, "Men, we shall leave here immi-"

**_BOOM!_**

His words were cut short when a massive explosion and a giant column of smoke shot out of the the other end of the town. The wind seemed to howl further in anger as the ten Zeon soilders concentrated on the cloud of smoke, then suddenly, as if he came out of the blue, HE appeared. The one they waited for so long. Blue was the color of his skin, his red-gold hair staying slick and composed, his eyes piercing through the wind as it whipped across his face, and made his black-on-red cape fly in the wind as his grey dress uniform, black boots, and white gloves stood out in the dust. The blue man walked forth, a golden pistol in hand, slowly. The Zeon captain grinned and gave thehead gesture to move forth. The captain's red uniform and black sleeve fittings refused to get affected by the dust that had so plagued the town. The soilders, eager to get revenge on the man that kept them waiting for so long, followed with grins on their faces. The captain said, "Don't fire until I say say so." His men gave him a unified "Yes, sir!" and they walked slowly to meet their opponent. The captain pulled drew a sword. The rules he and rival had agreed upon were simple - the captain could bring his men, but not use his gun. What they didn't say was that the captain's men could bring their rifles, which they brought out in short order as they moved forth in a slow manner.

"So... Char Aznable is patient enough for the waiting game.", the blue man said. "And you sure do have a penchant of playing it.", was what he got. The two men inched closer, then, the ace pilot said, "Don't come any closer, Dessler!" Dessler barely had time to say "I plan to, Char...", before he drew a knife, sidestepped, and threw it straight at Char. The knife plunged itself in Red Comet's arm, and the _Sōto_ of Gamilas fired nine shots. And in quick order, nine Zeon soilders fell dead at once. Char, meanwhile, having dropped his weapon. He silently swore at himself for letting his guard and Newtype abillites down. It had cost him the lives of his men for letting his pride get in the way. Lives that couldn't be paid for... unless it was in the death of one.

Dessler's gun had power enough for one shot. Just one. He smiled, moved backward, and threw it on the ground. "One bullet to one sword, Mr. Aznable. Let's see who's the quicker." Char had stepped back after getting knifed and had dropped his gold-handled foil infront. The two men then gave each other a quick look and the merest of smiles. They leaped for their weapons. A shot rang out and a foil was thrown. Both had gotten their mark - dead center on their intended target's torsos. Char's chest was punctured by Dessler's bullet, and the Red Comet fell down, and slumped back against a wooden, rickety, fence in pain. His foil was sticking out of Dessler like a splinter. The leader of the Gamilas race drew the blood-stained blade out, threw it away, and fell, face-first, into the sand that was starting to turn red.

As they lay dying, Dessler pulled his head, up, already red and yellow and stared at his dying opponent. He weakly called out to him. "Aznable...", he wheezed. "The entrance to hell... I'll be waiting for you there." Char gave a slight, weak laugh, and said... "I know... but I wasn't prepared.." before his eyes closed and he welcomed death's cold embrace. Dessler, too, began to welcome it and his head collapsed. And then he dryly said, "As long as I live... Gamilas lives... it dies when I shall die. And when I die... the rest will be silence.", and said no more.

Kodai, Amuro, Yuki, Fraw, Shima, and Kobayashi came out to see the two bodies. Amuro, a pensive look written on his face, said, "They were prideful in death as they were in life... and now... Zeon and Gamilas have lost the finest warriors they've ever known..." Hayato then asked, "Well, we wouldn't want to caught be in the middle of the aftermath, would we?" Kodai turned at him and gave him a slight, respective smile and a nod. He then kept staring at the dead bodies, and then said an old quote taken from a source long since forgotten...

**_"Kill one or one hundred... you only hang once."_**

**_FIN. _**


End file.
